EPTComputer Build Resource Thread - Page 134
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When using this resource, please read FragKrag's opening post. The Tech Support forum regulars have helped create countless of desktop systems without any compensation. The least you can do is provide all of the information required for them to help you properly. | ||
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city42
1656 Posts
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R04R
United States1631 Posts
 The Hyper 212+ is still a good choice. | ||
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ReNhoSoft
Mexico69 Posts
I've wanted to upgrade my PC for a while now, but I'm not sure as to what to get for my CPU so I was hoping you could give me some advice on the subject. My computer as it stands now: MB: ASUS M2NPV-VM CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 RAM: 3GB DDR2 @ 633Mhz GPU: XFX Radeon 5750 HD: 160Gb PSU: 450w Resolution: 1980x1020 I intent to use the 5750 on my new computer, and if I can get the money for it, buy a 5770 and put them in CrossFire. Now the thing is that, I was going to wait to get my hands on a Core i5-2500k, but the Mobos that support CrossFire are more expensive than the ones with an AM3 socket, and I'm not even sure that Crossfire is worth it. So either I get the Core i5 and a Mobo without crossfire, or I get a Phenom II X6 1055T and a Mobo with crossfire. Which one do you think would be the best option? | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
If you're not planning on overclocking or using Crossfire, you could get a slightly cheaper Core i5-2xxx model and a cheaper H67 board. In any case, a Phenom II X6 gets crushed by the Core i5-2xxx in everything but the most well-threaded applications (encoding, rendering, etc.), where it still loses but not too badly. See here. For most users, a Phenom II X4 is just as good. Or maybe step down to a cheaper Athlon II. It think the more expensive Phenom IIs are just too close in price to the Core i5-2xxx (including the motherboard cost) to justify the price difference. | ||
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city42
1656 Posts
On January 07 2011 07:45 R04R wrote: It's safe. The real question is, can it fit in your case? The Hyper 212+ is still a good choice.I've got a HAF912 which is pretty large, so I think it'll be fine. I just want to upgrade from the loud/ineffective stock AMD HSF. I'll have a look at the 212+ as well, thanks for mentioning it. | ||
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Neoto
United Kingdom19 Posts
On January 07 2011 07:31 city42 wrote: Does anyone have experience with the Scythe Mugen Rev B? From what I've seen in benchmarks, it clearly has the best price-to-performance ratio among heat sinks, but it's so big (2 lbs!) I'm afraid it will snap my motherboard in half. Is this thing safe? I have one and it's pretty good. If you're running stock settings you could get away with running it without a fan. Having said that the fan is very quiet anyway. | ||
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ReNhoSoft
Mexico69 Posts
On January 07 2011 10:30 Myrmidon wrote: It depends what you're using your computer for other than games and which games you're playing. Sometimes Crossfire support isn't so great, and you have to worry about increased cooling needs, extra noise, etc. Also, what's the model and brand of the PSU? On a synthetic max load scenario, a Phenom II X6 + HD 5770 + HD 5750 may be too much even for a quality 450W unit. If you're not planning on overclocking or using Crossfire, you could get a slightly cheaper Core i5-2xxx model and a cheaper H67 board. In any case, a Phenom II X6 gets crushed by the Core i5-2xxx in everything but the most well-threaded applications (encoding, rendering, etc.), where it still loses but not too badly. See here. For most users, a Phenom II X4 is just as good. Or maybe step down to a cheaper Athlon II. It think the more expensive Phenom IIs are just too close in price to the Core i5-2xxx (including the motherboard cost) to justify the price difference. Thanks for your response. I'm a programer (not progamer ) so having a faster CPU seems like a better choice for me, as compiling code can take forever, specially as the project grows larger. That's why I'm hesitant about sacrificing CPU only to be able to get CrossFire later on. If I do get a second GPU I would also get a new PSU, probably a Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 550wAside from programing I play games like Team Fortress 2, Sc2, Crysis, Civilization, Assassins Creed, Resident Evil 4.... but I know anything beyond a Core i3 is overkill (except maybe for civilization... maybe). But my 5750 isn't really that great, that´s why I wanted to check the possibility of getting another card with crossfire later on. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
FYI, it varies on a model by model basis, but most Cooler Master-branded PSUs other than the Silent Pro series aren't so great. See here about the 550W you mentioned, which does better than some others. I think when the time comes, you might as well just get a new GPU and forget about Crossfire. Whatever the ~$120 GPU is at the time might be faster than Crossfire HD 5750 + HD 5770 anyway. | ||
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ReNhoSoft
Mexico69 Posts
On January 07 2011 11:59 Myrmidon wrote: I'd get a Core i5-2xxx then. It's been a while since I compiled anything substantive on a local machine, but isn't compiling often not that parallel a workload? I guess it depends on the language, the code, and the compiler. FYI, it varies on a model by model basis, but most Cooler Master-branded PSUs other than the Silent Pro series aren't so great. See here about the 550W you mentioned, which does better than some others. I think when the time comes, you might as well just get a new GPU and forget about Crossfire. Whatever the ~$120 GPU is at the time might be faster than Crossfire HD 5750 + HD 5770 anyway. Yeah,m you're probably right. Thanks a lot for the information! | ||
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Chaomantic
20 Posts
I’m going to buy myself a new computer sometime this month and would very much appreciate it if you could comment on the build I have in mind and give me some advice as I am relatively ignorant when it comes to hardware. My current budget stands at roughly $500-600. I am contemplating the following build: Processor: Phenom II X4 955 ($172) Mother: Giga-byte GA-880GM-D2H v.1,3 (AMD 880G) Soc.AM3 ($97) or ASrock M3A770DE <AMD 770 + SB710> Soc.AM-3 ($78) Graphics card: SVGA Gigabyte /PCI-E/ GV-R557OC-1GI (Radeon x5570) 1024MB (128bit) DDR V, Dual DVI+HDMI+CRT, Retail ($96) RAM: 4Gb 1333MHz (single DIMM) ($73) HDD: Seagate Barracuda SATA2 500Gb 7200 rpm (16Mb cache) (~$50) Case: some generic case at $40 DVD-RW: some generic device at around $20 Keyboard: cheap Logitech at $20 PSU: 500W P4 COOLER MASTER <RS-500-PSAP-J3> ATX12V 2.3 with one 120mm cooler ($51) Total: $600 (with the ASrock mobo) I’m not planning to upgrade my monitor (19” normally running at 1024x768 though capable of 1440x900). I primarily plan to play SC2 and D3 on this computer and I'm pretty positive both will run just fine. I do not intend to play any of the more demanding games. It is possible that this system will be used for some Adobe Photoshop and CorelDraw stuff but nothing too serious. My work primarily involves text processing and sometimes simple operations with relatively large images (drawings). I would probably want to run AutoCAD on this if only to see how the thing works (it is not by any means a priority). I do, however, have a few questions regarding the hardware. First of all, I am concerned about the PSU as it maybe more prudent to add some more money and purchase one of the better 80+ certified PSUs which start at $100 something. I do play with the idea of trying out the CrossFireX feature later on. Speaking of CrossFireX, both mobos have this feature mentioned in their shop description but as far as I can tell from the numbers provided in the initial post they cannot support dual GPUs. Maybe I just misunderstand the whole CrossFire thing? Furthermore, is there any need for additional cooling? I hear that AMD systems tend to generate a lot of heat at top loads. Perhaps I am overinvesting in the CPU and would be better of with something cheaper investing spare money into a better mobo or PSU? Thanks in advance. | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
The Gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H only has 1 PCI-E x16 slot so there is no way you will be able to do CrossfireX with that board. It doesn't have CrossfireX listed as a feature, maybe you've mistaken it for Hybrid Graphics Technology (lets integrated and discrete GPUs to work together to save power)? However the AsRock M3A770DE has 2 PCI-E x16 slots with CrossfireX support. I advise against any multi-GPU setup unless you are playing at a resolution higher than 1920x1200. And at your resolution, it's just a waste of money. If you do not plan on overclocking, there is no need for an aftermarket heatsink. Where are you buying these components? The RAM and GPU is definitely overpriced... 4gb 1333mhz DDR3 @ $43.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190 You can find a 5670 or GTS 250 for under $100. Both of which perform better than the 5570. You don't need to spend $100 for a quality PSU. The reputable brands are Seasonic, Corsair, and Antec. All of which have quality PSUs for under $100 such as this one for $59.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094 Are you brand loyal to Seagate? A Samsung Spinpoint would be a better option or even a Western Digital Black... If you live near a microcenter, I'd avoid AMD altogether and get an core i5 2400 for $149.99... | ||
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KOFgokuon
United States14912 Posts
Neither of those boards have a second pci-e slots so you can't do crossfire on either of them You won't need additional cooling unless you're going to overclock Your computer isn't balanced quite right, you're spending too much on your cpu and not enough on your gpu imo. Especially if you want to game and play d3 in the future. I'd rather you get a 5770 and an athlon x3 or something Getting 1 stick of 4 gb ram is a little more expensive than going 2x2, if u need to find a little extra money. | ||
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malady
United States600 Posts
everytime I try to install windows 7 on my newly built pc i get stuck on the "expanding files" I tried dvds, usb loader, taking out one ram stick, messing with different bios settings. currently i sent my harddrive back thinking its the problem the next problem i can think of it being is the ram anyone with experience in this problem? thanks specs: rosewill destroyer case amd x2 455 asrock 770 extreme fa1ality psu 550w 4gb g skill 1600 dual ram radeon 6850 1gb videocard - buying a new ocz vertex ssd oh yeah built this whole system for $550 to play sc2 should do well i think for the price | ||
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skyR
Canada13817 Posts
how long are you waiting (if you didn't wait for at least an hour than you are just impatience)? It does take quite a while before it progresses. Try a different install disc as well. | ||
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Pure.Calm
United Kingdom196 Posts
On January 08 2011 02:18 KOFgokuon wrote: Getting a $100 PSU on a $600 budget is a huge waste, so I would not go down that route Neither of those boards have a second pci-e slots so you can't do crossfire on either of them You won't need additional cooling unless you're going to overclock Your computer isn't balanced quite right, you're spending too much on your cpu and not enough on your gpu imo. Especially if you want to game and play d3 in the future. I'd rather you get a 5770 and an athlon x3 or something Getting 1 stick of 4 gb ram is a little more expensive than going 2x2, if u need to find a little extra money. Just to add to this i went for a budget build of the athlon x3 435 and 5770 (maybe try looking at the gtx460 now though) and i can play sc2 on ultra pretty well, but you might want to do some more research on this as i never play on maxed i usually play on a mixture of medium to high with i think maybe a few ultra settings (too distracting otherwise) and i cap my fps at 30-60, i dont have any fraps averages ect or 200v200 protoss on zerg creep figures though. One thing you might want to be wary of however is if your looking to upgrade with the new sandy bridge processors lookly quite beastly and requiring a different motherboard connection ect. I bought mine to hold me over but am thinking of getting a new cpu and consequently now will have to buy a new mobo aswell. For reference i play on a 1440x980 resolution. | ||
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malady
United States600 Posts
stuck at 0 tried it again next day got stuck on 7% i just wanna play sc =( | ||
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maxchgr
United States122 Posts
My step dad bought a computer that was prebuilt for him, and after using it a little and trying to install some old palm's sync software, he said "something happened" and he couldn't get into windows. I realized when it didn't recognize boot from hard drive that there's something wrong with the connection. I removed the hard drive from the SATA 6G connector and put it into one of the regular SATA drives (my limited knowledge tells me that's SATA 3.0?). It worked and the computer booted up normally. My questions are: 1) Is the hard drive slower on the regular SATA than it would be on the SATA 6G? I.e., is it at a disadvantage the way it is set up now? I can't find good information on what is SATA 6G.. 2) Why do you think this happened? Does it have anything possibly to do with the palm sync software or is that a coincidence? And I think in the mean time I'm gonna tell my step dad to call the motherboard company and tell them that the SATA 6G port is defective. | ||
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a176
Canada6688 Posts
![[image loading]](http://techreport.com/r.x/sandy-bridge/sc2.gif) The 2100 is expected to retail around $120, though many retailers will be selling above this price for a little while due to demand, so you might have to wait a bit. But I do believe its worth every dollar. I'm sure many of the techies here will be able to find builds fitting most budgets using these processors. | ||
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Silentness
United States2821 Posts
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Yiruru
Canada690 Posts
I have a SATA HDD from my Laptop since it stopped working (No POST, probably Bios? but I never tried to flash the Bios so iounno), can I just connect it to my Desktop using normal SATA cables? | ||
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